India announce Test squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa.

BCCI named a 17-man squad for the tour to South Africa that will start from 5th January. In addition, the board also announced the T20 squad for three-match series against Sri Lanka. Rohit Sharma will lead the side as Virat Kohli has been rested in order for him to be fit and available for the big series in South Africa. Washington Sundar, Mohammad Siraj, Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat are included in the T20 squad in place of bigwigs who are to skip the series in order to prepare for the series in South Africa.

The big news in terms of Test squad is the inclusion of Jaspreet Bumrah who has been included in the setup in order to make sure they have adequate pace reserves against South Africa. India’s chief Selector MSK Prasad that the squad pick is expected to produce good results in South Africa. Prasad said that Jaspreet Bumrah has earned his maiden call-up through sheer weight of his superlative performances in the last one year or so.

The six frontline seamers plus Hardik Pandya are included in the squad as the tour is going to tough one for the visitors. The side last toured the country in 2013 and the lost the two-match series by 1-0. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli did exceedingly well on the last tour and are expected to do same come this around as well.